Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope!

[realitymods]

So, as you all know, the premise here can be a bit hard to wrap your head around, until you start playing, at which point it becomes pretty easy. In the past, I know players have given quick run-down introductions to people considering the game to help them get it. It was wisely suggested that we have something like this as a game-info post to help people get a solid idea of the game without worrying about all of the technicalities that end up coming into play. This is a good suggestion, so we decided to call on you for help!

If you guys have ever given or seen someone give a really good overview of how the game works, could you please share that with us here? We'll try to merge the info and explanations that work into something generalized and easily accessible, and everyone will profit.

And how can you resist Leia's hair when it's in need?

Comments

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

There was info given about the premise and merging on shouldknow here (http://shouldknow.livejournal.com/498.html?thread=34546#t34546).

the premise was me, if you couldn't tell

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I gave a rundown to me-chan once, but I can't remember if it was in her journal or mine, so it might not be available and I'm not sure how to find it.

[oliverplus]

Well, I might have done something silly like save that even though I didn't join for like four months...

http://kmegumi2.livejournal.com/460471.html?thread=2377911#t2377911

The examples were really specific to me, though.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

...that's such a cute explanation

[kmegumi2.livejournal.com]

Well, Star did write it!

[elegantthestars.livejournal.com]

I forgot I used that explanation :|

[daluci.livejournal.com]

I've seen it described as "ddd, but irl", which made me laugh. Otherwise I am of no help. Good luck modthings.

[whitelighter]

I don't have a link to provide, but perhaps mentioning in passing how much characters would know of the Twins or Meredith upon arrival to the Plane? I know I've been confused by how much my characters should or shouldn't know—they've seen the Twins in the shop when they arrive, but where does Meredith fit in? Does she actually introduce herself to people when they arrive on the Plane, or is that simply part of the introductory text and doesn't actually happen?

Also, the nightmares should probably be mentioned. Are they constant, or do they only happen occasionally? Are they the sort people lose sleep over, or just the kind that you only sort of remember when you wake up, but haven't lost much rest because of it?

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Popping in to say that nightmares are already set in the game info!

Characters will certainly dream when they sleep. But now the dreams are darker, tainted with what lurks in the deepest reaches of space, beyond the starlight. In other words? Nightmares. These will be very personalized to their fears and history. Characters already unfortunate enough to be haunted in their sleep will notice a definite increase in the nightmares. They will be intense, though not as bad as the one before 'waking up' initially.

[whitelighter]

But... so is everything else that's being rehashed here?

The wording in that is sort of vague—it says "will certainly dream", which implies that it would happen all the time... except then later it says "Characters already unfortunate enough to be haunted in their sleep will notice a definite increase in the nightmares." That sounds, to me, like they aren't constant or anything. So I figured asking for clarification in the simplified guide wouldn't be a bad idea.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

It actually means that characters who, before coming to the Plane, had skeletons in their closets and had nightmares are going to have more of them, from my understanding. So characters like House who are tortured souls, or whatever, are going to be less happy than people with clean slates. Or at least sleep less.

[whitelighter]

Yeah, that... still doesn't say whether they are all the time, or just more frequent than before (for those who previously had nightmares).

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Yes it does? Cutting out the descriptive material, you get "Characters will certainly dream when they sleep. But now the dreams are...Nightmares. These will be very personalized to their fears and history." So if your character is capable of dreaming, they'll have nightmares.

Of course, you can always take it however you want. The game info isn't a legally binding contract, so you're free to interpret it however you want, as long as you stay in the limits of them. Not all characters are going to mention their nightmares offhandedly anyways and come to the Plane announcing HEY GUYS I HAD SOME TERRIBLE DREAMS HOW ABOUT YOU, so it's easy enough to gloss over. It's not played out a lot because I don't think most players consider it vitally important to the game overall, but the nightmares are constant.

[whitelighter]

Whether the nightmares are constant or not isn't exactly what I'm trying to ask about... I think the problem is that it doesn't say that they are constant; it makes sense in the context of the game info being very prose-oriented, but that's not very good for a this-is-how-it-works post like the mods are saying they would like to make.

What the blurb does say is that they will dream and have nightmares, but the only time it actually mentions the rate at which they occur is here: Characters already unfortunate enough to be haunted in their sleep will notice a definite increase in the nightmares.

If it was constant, saying something like "will now find that they come every night" instead of that they'll "definitely increase" makes more sense to me. It's just something I thought should be addressed in the simplified guide, because—like other topics, such as mergers, realities overlapping, etc., etc.—it could stand to be worded better. That's all.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

I don't think we're on the same page here. It does say that they're constant. You seem to be hung up on the last part, which only applies to a small handful of characters anyways. What you're asking for is already there, just in a different set of words.

Mergers and realties overlapping are complicated, but that's not what I'm addressing here. You seemed to be confused about the nightmares part of the game info, so I'm trying to clear it up for you.

[whitelighter]

What you're asking for is already there, just in a different set of words.

This is... exactly my point, yes. The info about mergers and overlapping realities are already there, but also in a different set of words. In my opinion, if there's room for doubt in the wording of something, anywhere, it should definitely be clarified.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

No matter what words you put it in, someone is always going to be confused. It's okay to ask questions, because hey, what we write isn't always what we exactly mean, but it's pretty clear what it says. There is a point where you have to interpret things for yourself.

[galeforcehero.livejournal.com]

why did you have to go and mention Leia's hair, now i am hungry for danishes :(